


I See You

by rainbowtourmaline



Series: What Was Left Unsaid [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: 5 Times, Dancing, Episode: s05e18 A Single Pale Rose, F/F, Fluff, Gem Fusion, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Missing Scene, Protective Garnet, Slow Dancing, Spoilers for Episode: s05e18 A Single Pale Rose, Wedding Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-05 02:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15854148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowtourmaline/pseuds/rainbowtourmaline
Summary: When Pearl put the teapot down onto the coffee table, Sapphire allowed herself one small smile as Pearl poured them both a drink. ‘Pearl hates liquids.’Five times Garnet wanted to ask Pearl a question but didn’t, and one time she did.





	I See You

**Author's Note:**

> I know Garnet has asked questions in canon before but this concept was too fun to play with. 
> 
> You may want to read the prequel to this series 'See Right Through Me' to get the best enjoyment out of this sequel (especially if you love jealous!Garnet and Pearl angst).

 

  1. **Bismuth**



 

Garnet didn’t say much when she joined the Crystal Gems because she was still building up her confidence, so at first there wasn’t much of a back and forth between her and Pearl. She would usually say “uh huh” or “I see” to Pearl’s rants about Earth flora and fauna, her odes to robotics and mechanics or her gushing sessions about her beloved Rose Quartz. Garnet was a bit perturbed by the unusually chatty pearl but over time she had come to enjoy her enthusiasm for life on Earth.

Which was why she noticed when Pearl was unusually silent as she sat on a log, looking at the fire they made. Gems didn’t need fire to stay warm, but Pearl said looking at the flames made her feel relaxed.  

Garnet thought the way the orange embers reflected and danced in Pearl’s blue eyes made her look otherworldly, but Garnet chastised herself for the thought before taking a seat next to her.  

Pearl’s affections were already directed towards someone else and Garnet didn’t want to get a reputation as _that_ kind of gem, she had enough to deal with as a fusion.

“I know you miss Bismuth.” Garnet said, putting a comforting hand on Pearl’s shoulder. “But as Rose said, she’ll find her way back to the team. We just have to give her time.”

Pearl tore her gaze from the fire to blink up at Garnet, only to shift her eyes back to their only source of light in the forest.

“You’re right.” Pearl said. “I’m just fussing.”

Garnet opened her mouth to ask why she would be fretting over Bismuth, who was one of the strongest gems in the rebellion, with the intention of digging deeper to find out what was really bothering Pearl.

Instead she closed her lips and kept her mouth shut.   

She was so certain that Rose Quartz was right to say Bismuth would come back, that she didn’t even bother to look into the future to see when she would return. There was no point in bothering Pearl about this if everything was going to work out in the end.

So she just sat beside Pearl and watched the fire with her.

 

* * *

 

  1. **Rose Quartz**



 

“Garnet! Why don’t you try fusing with Pearl?!”

If Garnet hadn’t been wearing her new sunglasses, Rose would have giggled at how the fusion’s eyes were nearly popping out of her head.

“What?”

“Give it a go!” Rose goaded her on. “You said you wanted to feel closer to Pearl, right? What better way is there to be close to someone than fusion?”

“Uh…”

“Come on!” Rose excitedly grabbed Garnet’s hand and dragged her across the camp, until she spotted Pearl polishing her sword. She had a firm grip on the handle and her eyes glared at the shiny metal point in concentration.

Garnet blushed at how grizzled and tough Pearl looked when she was absorbed in the task of caring for her weaponry. She had remembered the menacing aura Pearl gave off at their first meeting but forgot how intimidating the usually feminine gem could be. “Pearl, do you wanna fuse with Garnet?”

“Rose!” Garnet chastised her leader but was taken aback when Pearl immediately forgot all about her sword. Pearl slowly rose to her feet as her smile got bigger and bigger as she met Garnet’s height, extended her hand and gasped: “I would be delighted!”

Drat. Garnet _couldn’t_ say no to that adorable face. 

And if she asked why she was so excited to fuse with someone who wasn’t her beloved, she might rethink her choice.

Garnet knew fusion could be platonic, but she wasn’t oblivious to her friend’s little crush.

 

* * *

 

  1. **Sardonyx**



 

“Please understand Pearl. You have an impact too. There are times when I look up to you for strength. You are your own gem. You control your destiny. Not me, not Rose, not Steven. But you must choose to be strong, so we can move forward, so I can trust you again.” 

Garnet told Pearl all this because it was true. Pearl was so strong, so loved, so _beautiful_ in Garnet’s eyes despite what she did – so why would she say she was just a pearl?

Garnet still didn’t trust Pearl completely, but it hurt so much that someone she cared about had such low self esteem and she wanted to know why that was the case.

 

* * *

 

  1. **Mystery Girl**



 

“Pearl was a total **rock star**.” Amethyst said.

“I bet she was.” Garnet said.

“She got a human girl’s number on the first try!” Amethyst said.

“I’m not surprised.” Garnet said.

“And she’s calling her later this week!”

Garnet could see what Amethyst was doing a hundred miles away but she wasn’t worried. Garnet had looked into Mystery Girl as soon as Steven told her about their late-night adventure and couldn’t see her in Pearl’s future.

Garnet smugly folded Steven’s shirt, relieved that her future vision had given her the answer she wanted and satisfied with the response Pearl gave her when she asked about Mystery Girl that night in the kitchen.

_“She’s lovely.” Pearl said. “But she reminds me too much of Rose.”_

“Somehow I don’t think it’s going to work out.”

Amethyst quirked an eyebrow.

“Is that because you’re going to do something about it?”

Garnet stopped folding Steven’s clothes.

“Hey, I’m just asking!” Amethyst raised both hands defensively, before she walked off smirking. “Don’t wait too long to ask if she still likes you back though, Pearl’s gotten a taste for independence and I think she likes it…”

It took Garnet a minute, but she went back to finishing Steven’s laundry, determined to ignore what Amethyst said.

 

* * *

 

  1. **Sapphire**



 

When Pearl put the teapot down onto the coffee table, Sapphire allowed herself one small smile as Pearl poured them both a drink.

_‘Pearl hates liquids.’_

“I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but I promise you everything is doing to be all right.” Pearl said as she put a hand on Sapphire’s back. “Ruby loves you and will come back when she’s ready.”

Sapphire had spent a lot of time clinging to Pearl and crying her eyes out against her chest, but to heck with it! Sapphire wrapped her arms around Pearl’s waist again, but this time to whisper: “Thank you Pearl. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Pearl only smiled down at the small blue gem and embraced her back.

_‘You could have saved Pearl and yourself a lot of heartache if you had only looked into Rose Quartz’s past.’_

Sapphire gasped, pushing herself away from Pearl and breathing heavily.

“Sapphire? What’s wrong?” Pearl gently reached a hand out to her, but Sapphire shook her head.

_‘She must hate you for not helping her break the promise, especially after it was so obvious she was crying for help all this time. Remember when she tried to draw those pictures at the beach? She must have been trying to tell you what Pink Diamond ordered her to do.’_

“I’m sorry. It’s nothing.”

**_‘Ask her if she hates you.’_ **

Sapphire was feeling short of breath and was ready to burst into tears again, but like a knight in shining armour, Pearl came to the rescue.  

“Are you sure?” Pearl put her hand on Sapphire’s back again, hoping it would calm her down.

It did.

“I just…” Sapphire sighed and hugged herself. “I’m sorry I didn’t look into Rose. Keeping that secret must have been awful for you and I wish I had realised something was wrong sooner so you wouldn’t have had to deal with this alone.”  

Pearl held Sapphire’s hand, clasping their fingers together.

“But I wasn’t alone.” Pearl said. “I had you, Ruby, Garnet and Amethyst. And now I have Steven. That is more than enough for me.”

 _‘But that’s not good enough for me.’_ Sapphire wanted to say, but said nothing.

 

* * *

 

“May I have the first dance with the bride?” Garnet felt her breath being taken away when she turned to see who tapped her shoulder. She smiled and wrapped her arms around Pearl’s slim waist, ignoring the ‘oomph!’ noise she made from the force of her hug.

“I’d love to!”

It had been far too long since Garnet danced with Pearl for fun. She had nearly forgotten how comfortable and in-sync they were together on the dance floor, swapping roles without a fuss depending on the music or their mood, executing their moves flawlessly unless the other one had happened to be having a fit of laughter.  

A first dance turned into a third when Garnet let Pearl take the lead during a slow dance.

“Pearl… Are you okay?” Garnet asks as she looks out onto the ocean, her cheek nuzzling Pearl.

“Me?” Pearl gasps, her grip on Garnet’s hand tightening ever so slightly before Garnet felt her relax. Garnet could feel the gears in Pearl’s brain turning as she considered the last few days. This made Garnet rub soothing circles on Pearl’s back, wordlessly praising her not immediately pretending she was happy for her sake.

“Yes.” Pearl breathed into Garnet’s neck, pulling the other gem closer by clinging to her waist. Garnet smirked as she felt the heat of her blue cheeks.

“I felt horrible when you unfused and I thought I was going to lose you.” Pearl confessed even though she had already confided in Sapphire about her worst nightmare. “But now that Steven has freed me from Pink Diamond’s command, and everything has turned out all right, I feel so much lighter.”

Pearl sighed contentedly before raising her head to look into Garnet’s eyes, her hand gently squeezing Garnet’s on purpose this time.  

“What about you Garnet?”

Pearl didn’t know what to expect when Garnet beamed at her.

It happened so fast but Pearl could literally feel her heart flutter in her stomach when Garnet grabbed her by the waist, gently dipped her in the middle of the dance floor and stared into her eyes as if she was indulging in something she had denied herself for a long time.

Pearl could literally feel herself falling for Garnet the same way she had fallen for Rose and not just because gravity compelled her to hold onto Garnet’s shoulders.   

She thanked the stars she didn’t have to say anything because Garnet said it for her: “I feel full of **love!** ”

Pearl just laid stunned in Garnet’s arms until she burst into a fit of giggles when the other gem pulled her onto her feet again, not letting go even when Pearl buried her head in her chest to ride out the giddiness.   

Little did Pearl know though, Garnet was making a vow to never let a question go unsaid to her ever again, as she held her in her arms and wistfully stared out onto the ocean.  

**Author's Note:**

> \- I meant to write and post this sequel a lot sooner, but real life got in the way. Doesn't matter though, I'm still geeking out about A Single Pale Rose episode and the Steven Bomb that followed after it. I can wholeheartedly say that it's my favourite arc in the series and the writers didn't disappoint with that character development. 
> 
> \- I rewatched the episode where Pearl and Garnet make amends after Keystone Motel and when I got to the part where Garnet gives Pearl a pep talk I was like: HOLY FRICK! HOLY FRICK!!!!!!!!! I'll understand if the writers don't have an end game ship or don't pair Pearl and Garnet together but I am of the opinion that if they do get together in canon it will be bloody perfect because it would tie up their arcs so well.


End file.
